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Now, what I'm about to tell you is not particularly anything new. It's just one of those things that comes more and more into focus as time goes on, and so it's good to haul it out every now and then and see what new pieces of the puzzle have emerged, kind of a “connect the dots” picture in which more and more dots appear, until the picture transitions from a broad outline into a richly detailed diagram.

This statement from Tom Riley at ONDCP is just jaw-dropping:

"It's easy to do ads about drugs like heroin and meth, and the awful consequences that manifest," says Tom Riley, director of public affairs at the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "It's harder to make ads about marijuana. 'Marijuana's gonna melt your face off' isn't really a credible thing to say to teens." [Slate]

The first problem here is that ONDCP really did make an ad quite recently in which a girl melts from smoking marijuana. You can watch it here. Nice try, Tom Riley. You should know better than to attempt an example of something your office wouldn't say about marijuana.

The second problem is that these supposedly easy-to-make ads about heroin and meth are not being made. Marijuana users have been portrayed by ONDCP as supporting terrorism, getting pregnant at a party, shooting a friend accidentally, running over a toddler, getting a fist stuck in their mouth, and on and on, but there are no ONDCP ads about heroin or meth.

Perplexing as it may be, Riley's statement perfectly captures the mindset of our marijuana-obsessed federal drug war establishment. He basically admits here that his office takes for granted the understanding that heroin and meth are harmful. It would be wasteful to tell the public what it already knows, particularly since smaller user populations make for bland statistical shifts even if you're successful. The drug war must be fed if it is to survive, and there just aren't enough heroin and meth users to sustain it.

The only downside is that some people will say you're a charlatan if kids are dying from heroin while you're busy making ads about chick-magnet space aliens that don't smoke weed.

Hi all: Here are a couple of true stories which David (Borden) encouraged me to share, related to drugs and/or the drug war. Enjoy! Story #1: I was picked on a Federal jury for a cocaine trafficking case. From the outset, in the back of my mind was the thought that although I don't really agree with the drug laws, I had no overt or explicit intentions to acquit based on my own personal views. I was willing to examine the evidence and reach a fair and impartial verdict. However, as the story unfolded it became increasingly apparent to me that the accused was actually innocent, or at the very least, had not been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. After many hours of soul-searching and more than a day of deliberation, I and the 11 other jurors in the case voted to acquit. See a news article here: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061119/news_1m19acquit.html